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It's time to review this column's investing recommendations during 2012. In what proved to be a strong year for global markets, I was cautious on exchange-traded funds focused on Asian and European stocks, and advised investors to look at hedged or targeted exposures given the wide variety of global economic woes. But those markets, it turned out, chugged along just fine. I was more positive than not on U.S. stocks during their rise this year, which turned out well. I was increasingly cautious about the run-up in the bond market and, later in the year, the price of gold. If you apportioned an equal amount of money to each of the 30 recommendations I offered, you'd be up by nearly 8% on a price basis as of early last week, more if you include dividends or time-weight the results. As any convert to stock-indexing will tell you, it remains awfully tough to beat the index.

Barron's Senior Editor Jack Hough joins The News Hub to explain why it's a good time to buy Brazil, Russia, or India stocks in 2013, and where you can find 5-6% yields in today's environment. Photo: AP Images.

A BIT OF CURMUDGEONLY-NESSin my first column (in February) served its purpose: I warned investors against many ETFs' propensity to own too much of a good thing, specifically with regard to
Apple AAPL -0.8743973196044782%Apple Inc.U.S.: NasdaqUSD121.3
-1.07-0.8743973196044782%
/Date(1438376400350-0500)/
Volume (Delayed 15m)
:
41225145AFTER HOURSUSD121.45
0.150.1236603462489695%
Volume (Delayed 15m)
:
1659808
P/E Ratio
14.006928406466512Market Cap
691740216377.936
Dividend Yield
1.7147568013190437% Rev. per Employee
2409500More quote details and news »AAPLinYour ValueYour ChangeShort position
(ticker: AAPL) stock. Indexes that weight holdings according to market value have to reflect the market as it is, not as it should or could be. This leaves investors at the mercy of booms and busts in big companies -- like Apple, and its rapid rise and fall. Shares traded at $502 at the time of the column's mid-February writing -- up 24% for the year -- and they're now up 28%. In between these two points, the stock surged above $700 and then painfully retraced the entire move, before rebounding to the $520s last week.

In March, I looked favorably on the idea of buying Japanese stocks with a yen hedge, in this case by owning the
WisdomTree Japan Hedged EquityDXJ 0.6834910620399579%WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity FundU.S.: NYSE Arca57.45
0.390.6834910620399579%
/Date(1438376400118-0500)/
Volume (Delayed 15m)
:
4278738AFTER HOURS57.45
%
Volume (Delayed 15m)
:
108635
P/E Ratio
N/AMarket Cap
N/A
Dividend Yield
2.2529503916449087% Rev. per Employee
N/AMore quote details and news »DXJinYour ValueYour ChangeShort position
fund (DXJ). The idea was to bet on a Japanese post-tsunami rebound and a reassessment of the nation's place in the world. The fund is up by 11% this year, but my timing was off, leaving the position down by about 5% since publication. Japanese markets have rallied recently, as the yen has weakened and investors have warmed to last week's victory by the Liberal Democratic Party. It's still a worthwhile investment.